The past, the future
by Green Tima
Summary: (BW) What is Dinobot's past, and how he ended up where he now is. (one shot, with chance of becoming more)


Authors note- this takes place during season 1 after Airazor is introduced

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Dinobot sat staring at the sky, not for the first time since landing on this rock wondering how he had gotten to this place. This had never been part of the plan, ending up stranded on another planet, with no chance of rescue, this was not how he was suppose to spend the rest of his life. Looking back into the sky thinking back on his life, wondering if everything was worth this, wondering if any part of his old life could still be salvaged.

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Long ago his name had been Ransack, her had no connection to the Decepticon that used it during the great war.

As long as he could remember life had been tough, he'd never wanted for anything material that he couldn't have, but times were still tough due in large parts to his parents. His father was Predacon, but his mother was maximal, and despite what many people first thought of his bastard heritage when first discovering it had not been rape that lead to his conception, his parents love had, and still loved each other. His father just wasn't around much, due in large part to his training in the use of the sword, his father knew hundreds of ways to kill a bot, possible far more, all with a sword of one form or another. And he had passed all these skills onto his son, something he had never asked for, something he had never really wanted but something he did indeed need.

But while his father taught him the sword, his mother taught him everything else, how to fight with the rest of his body, how to use what his father taught him, how to control the anger with in him, and so much more. She taught him what it ment to be a survivor, to hold on to one thing in life and never let it go. For him it had become honor, the one thing he wouldn't release, the one thing that kept him strong, the one thing he would die for.

Other bots didn't take kindly to him, Maximal's hated him because of his violent temper, Predicons hated him because of his compassion. He was part of both sides yet was never able to walk the path of either, something that hurt him to no end.

For a time he tried abandoning both sides, live as neither, carry on as he wished, by his own laws and ethics, an that brought him into conflict with many people on both sides. It was then that his true training in combat began fighting for his life against individuals on both sides, for any number of reasons but the main reason was clear in his mind.

Tricalculeen

It was a drug who's roots were found on Junkion, there it was a legitimate way to relieve the pain of reconstruction. But on his home world it was a plague, Bot's on both sides used it to increase their power output. If that was all it did he could overlook it, but many bot's were willing to do anything to get more, which brought many people in danger, and while he cared nothing for them, he couldn't let their pain be on his head, one of many downsides to being half maximal.

Rather than going after the dealers he went after the head, it took months but when he found them, he found himself in the middle of a battle, a battle that changed his life.

He wasn't the only one tracking down the suppliers of tricalculeen, but he was the only one after them for that sole reason. The Agency was after them too. The Agency was a co-maximal predacon organization dedicated to stopping threats that endangered the alliance between the two. They were after the supplier not because of the toxins he pushed be because of weapons he also manufactured.

The agency had been watching him since he started on his quest to bring the ring down and they were impressed, so much so they offered him a chance to become an agent. A chance he accepted, hoping it would be different than it had been on his home world.

Cybertron was far from the tolerant paradise he had been lead to believe. He was no more welcomed there than he had been at home, but here at least he had the chance to put his skills to good use.

Training had been hard but he was up to it, compared to what his parents had put him through it was nothing. While the combat training was hard, it was learning all the regulations and procedures that really made it difficult for him. But he endured if for no other reason than it brought him closer to her.

Shadow Dancer

A pure 'blood' Maximal and the most beautiful female he had ever seen in his life. But it was far from just a physical attracting, she had a fire in her eyes, a desire to be something more than what she was that truly attacked him to her. A desire that was far from mutual, to put it bluntly she hated him, simply because he was a half breed, something she couldn't be a party too.

Which made it all the more ironic when, after they graduated, they were assigned to work together. It was standard procedure to link groups of probation agents together to make sure they watched each others backs and filter out those that couldn't do the job.

Their first assignment, was to deal with a Maximal weapons merchant that was supposedly supplying weapons to a rouge maximal faction that, if the reports were true, was going to launch an assault on a predacon colony world.

Shadow Dancer and Light Burn were the main operatives working as maximal buyers, he, Dataswarm, and Catsai were working surveillance. He listened, and then he heard the tell tale signs that they were about to get caught and he reacted the only way he knew how.

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"I'm beginning to think you don't want to do business with me."

"That's not true, we.."

"Kill them," turning his back as his associates prepared to fire, something that didn't happen as the doors to the ware house exploded as a body was thrown through it.

"Did you really think this was going to work?" Ransack roared, "Did you really think you could just leave me out in the cold," stepping over the guard he'd just thrown through the door, "or have you forgotten who keeps the two of you _functioning." _

"And you are?"

"The silent associate, the one that deals with their little screw ups," palm thrusting his hand into Light Burn's face knocking him unconscious, mech fluid running down his face. Grabbing Shadow Dancer by the throat and bringing her very close to him, "one who's going to be earning triple unless you want to deal with this little screw up yourself."

Pausing finally Light Dancer spoke, "Deal."

"Good," releasing her turning to the others, "so tell me, what what's it going to take to get this transaction under way?"

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As it turned out, this is what he wanted, a show of force and the assurance someone capable of looking after his investment was in proximity. And of course the irony of having a predacon distributing weapons that would one day kill predacons was to much to resist. They stayed on that job for a while and in that time Shadow Dancer and Ransack grew close.

After the case they ended up being friends, partnering on every job they could. It time they posed as many things together dealers, mercenaries, slave traders, thieves, drug czars. They posed as husband and wife, man and mistress, owner and property, boss and employee, partners, even siblings. And in their time together few could match them. Away from the job they were something else entirely, master and student and later equals in the fighting arts, friends, confidants, and later lovers.

That was when their team broke up, they knew they couldn't be in a relationship and still be partners on the job.

Then they came to him with a job that could very well be bigger than all his others put together. Stories of a rouge predacon faction determined to steal an ancient artifact and reignite the age old conflict. It was his job, along with others, it infiltrate and faction and stop them. Out of the fifteen that tried only two had made it to the actual job, and even then Megatron didn't tell anyone what they were after till after he had it in his hand.

His partner Reverb went down as they escaped the museum, he had no idea if he was alive or not. Then they were followed and he hoped the Maximal vessel would be enough to bring them down, he'd done everything he could to stall the ship with out blowing his cover.

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And then he was here, on another world, another time, the odds of him ever seeing her beloved Shadow Dancer again remote if not impossible.

Even after all this time he was unable to tell the others his story, the truth of who and what he was. He had made a pledge long ago to never break charter till the job was done, and he had not broken it, but many nights he found himself on the verge of doing so.

Before he left Shadow Dancer had sent him a message, hidden of course, but comparatively simply. The code was simply the placement of words and letters, it was simple, archaic really, but often times over looked. The message had told him she was being sent as a back up on a maximal exploration vessel, just incase their 'cargo' escaped, she was being transported as a protoform.

For a time he allowed himself delusions that the Axalon was that ship, that some where over head Shadow Dancer lay waiting to be released.

Then she came, at first he disregarded her as just another female, she was attractive enough and a competent fighter, but compared to Shadow Dancer she was a pale imitation. But then he would see it, the way she moved, the way she would hold herself, on expression or the tone of her voice. It was only there for a second but it was her, Shadow Dancer, her mind scrambled, their past together gone.

He wanted to tell her, but he couldn't, he knew repairing her memory was next to impossible, and there was a good chance she wouldn't want to be Shadow Dancer if given the choice.

Until they were rescued there was little he could do but wait and watch her and pray to the matrix some part of the woman he loved could be recovered, that their lives could still be what they had envisioned.

But for now he sat and watched the sky, wondering.

'_If you are here Shadow Dancer, and nothing on board the Axalon is worth the protection of the Agency, then is what you were guarding up there?'_

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Authors note- yeah that's it, who is Shadow Dancer, well she could be either of the fembots. And if you haven't guessed by now she was guarding Protomform X/Rampage. For the moment this is a oneshot, I might add further chapters at some point, they'll be a bit more interesting


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